Pokémon - Cynthia Holloway's new journey
by Lilleen
Summary: Cynthia Holloway is a fifteen year old girl living in a depressing town. Having failed to become a Pokémon master once, she again goes on a new journey to find her place in life. With her starter Pokémon, Leaf, she leaves her hometown to find her path: meeting new places and new people, both enemies and friends.
1. A new start

**DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Pokémon or characters from the game/anime.**

 **CLAIMER:** **I do own the characters that are not from either the game or anime.**

 **AUTHORS NOTE:** **This fanfiction is T rated because of violence, blood and sometimes strong language.**

 **I'm fully aware of that Pokémon is for kids, but this fan fiction is will contain themes that are not kid-friendly. Please be aware of this while reading.**

* * *

 **Pokémon fan-fiction – Chapter 1 " _A new start"_**

The clock showed 11:00 pm. Most people were asleep at this very moment, expect one person: Cynthia Holloway.

The fifteen year old girl was standing in front of the mirror in her bedroom, examining herself in the cloths she was wearing. Tomorrow, she would leave her home, just like five years ago: only this time she wouldn't return empty-handed.

"I think this outfit will work." She told herself and smiled. She was wearing a jacket which was short and only had one button. It covered her shoulders, breaths and some of her stomach. It was black and yellow with a golden button. She was also wearing shorts, which was also black, fishnet stocking and black leather boots. Under her short jacket was a black tank-top. On her left hand, she wore a bracelet with two cross on. On her right arm, she wore a ring her dead mother had left behind.

Her dad would probably not like the outfit, but Cynthia knew he wouldn't try to stop her from wearing it. Besides, she would probably shop some new cloths on her journey. She would change eventually when the season forbid her for wearing clothes that were either too little or too much.

Five years ago, on her tenth birthday, she had left her hometown to become a Pokémon champion. However, even though she had captured Pokémon who should have the advantage over the Pokémon the gym leaders were using, she always lost. It came to a point where Cynthia had given up and returned home with only a few Pokémon. Cynthia wouldn't take them with her, however. There was only one Pokémon coming with her, and that was her starter.

It had been hard for Cynthia to convince her dad to let her leave again. While eating dinner, Cynthia had begun to hint that she wanted to try again.

"Uhm … dad? You know … I've studied at the school for four years … and I don't find anything there interesting at all."

Her dad had stopped eating and looked at her with his huge, blue eyes. There was a long moment of awkward silence before he swallowed what he had been chewing and responded to her.

"What is it that you want now?" he asked her.

She blushed, because she was afraid he wouldn't accept her wish. After her failure as a Pokémon trainer, she had stayed home a whole year away from school. She knew they would make fun of her for returning with nothing. When school started again, Cynthia had become a shadow: no one was talking, encountering or even looking at her. She was completely alone. The school had been useless to her anyway. She knew that it wasn't her thing.

But what exactly was her destiny? Not to become a trainer, that was certain. She had been thinking about this for a long time. She wondered how she could find her path again. She could find it by starting a new journey with her partner.

"Please, you have to understand! Will you listen to me for once?" Cynthia asked her dad.

Her dad was chewing and swallowing again. Cynthia loved her father, but he didn't always listen or take what she said seriously. Cynthia's mom had almost never been in the picture. She remembered her as a blurry image of a woman looking like an older version of herself. She then one day disappeared and Cynthia's dad had told the young girl she had died while researching a different region.

Ever since she had left, Cynthia's dad had slipped slowly away from her. He had never given her dream of becoming a Pokémon master any support. He hadn't even been there with her when Cynthia had chosen her starter. He hadn't even tried to comfort the girl while she was depressed after her failing journey as a Pokémon trainer.

"I always listen, Cynthia." He said.

This made Cynthia so angry. When had he ever listened to her? He had done nothing but feed her and live in the same house as her. He had never been a father to Cynthia after mom had passed away.

"You never listen, goddammit. You never listen, care or support me!" Cynthia shouted.

Her dad stood up from the chair and looked at his daughter with eyes burning. They had never fought like this before. Cynthia had always had these feelings hidden within her heart, but she had never told her father how she really felt. Cynthia didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she wanted him to know the truth as well: what kind of figure he really was to the young teen.

"None of that language in my house, young lady. You're still just a child." He said.

It sounded like he tried to calm down, but was having trouble not raising his voice. He didn't handle the truth Cynthia was giving him. She'd only asked him to do one thing: listen.

"I want to go on a new journey!" Cynthia shouted.

A moment of silence. Her father sat down. He stared at his dinner with no interest at all. Was he calming down? Maybe he was thinking about what his daughter had just said. Cynthia pushed the plate with her unfinished dinner on and stood up.

"Not that I was asking for your permission, or anything. I will leave anyway. I'll leave after breakfast with Leaf." Cynthia said.

She was about to go to her room when her father, in anger, grabbed hold on her arm, having a painful grip around the tiny arm.

She turned around and looked into his dark blue eyes: same as hers. The only thing she hadn't inherit after her mother. She had the same dark brown hair and tan skin, but Cynthia's eyes were dark blue, while her mother's had been a mix between brown and green.

"You can't leave when you're in the middle of a school year! Cynthia, I thought you liked school.." he said. He tried to sound confused, but that trick didn't work anymore.

"Don't sound like you don't know that I hate school. Four years of wasted time. I'll leave tomorrow no matter what. Leaf and I won't return for a while. You'll take care of the other Pokémons for me." Cynthia said and made her father let go of her room, slamming the door behind her.

The young teenager undressed and put on her pyjamas. She then laid down on her bed and fell asleep. Tomorrow would be hers and Leaf's new start.

* * *

Cynthia had awoke early to make some food for her journey. The city nearest were behind a huge forest and Cynthia doubted that she would reach it before late evening.

Her father came into the room, fully dressed already. She looked at him. He raised one eye brown.

"You weren't kidding around, were ya?" he said. Cynthia shook her head and made one more sandwich before eating some breakfast.

Her father sat down with her and watched her eating her breakfast. This made her uncomfortable after a while, so she turned against him and said:

"What the hell is your problem?"

"It's just … I'm worried about Leaf, that's all." He said.

"What about her?"

"You two haven't really been too close after you returned."

Cynthia didn't reply to this, but she knew he was right. Leaf had been ignoring her ever since Cynthia had returned home. At first, she thought she was just disappointed at Cynthia for failing. Now she knew it was thinking about that battle over and over again. She was angry with, not only her master, but with herself as well.

"Leaf will be all right. I think she'll get over it." Cynthia said and ate her breakfast. She then went into her bedroom to put on her cloths. Cynthia then tied up her long hair into a doughnut: nothing really too fancy, just a simple one. She then packed her little shoulder bag with five empty Pokéballs, the sandwiches, Pokémon food, a flashlight and her Pokédex. Cynthia picked up Leaf's Pokéball and sighed. This wouldn't be easy.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" her father was looking at her, standing in the middle of her door. Cynthia looked at her father. She regretted all those words she had been shouting to him. It wasn't his fault.

"Yes. I don't know what I want, but I'll find it out. I need to get out of here. This town has nothing for me." Cynthia said. She then left the room and walked against the door letting her out of this house.

"Just … just remember to call me sometimes." Her father said behind her. She looked over her shoulder, looked at her father. She smiled a bit.

"I will … dad? I'm so sorry for last night." She said. He didn't respond, so the young teenager left the house and went towards the huge forest she had to pass through to get to the new city.

* * *

After quite some time, Cynthia decided to take a break and eat some. There was still a long way, so she might as well take a break now rather than regret it later.

She sat down on a huge rock and found some Pokémon food for Leaf. She then found her sandwiches. This was the moment of truth.

"Come out, Leaf." Cynthia said and opened her Pokéball. The red energy came out and took form. The Pokémon was only 0.89 meter long, was green, walking on all four and had a huge leaf on her head.

Cynthia's Leaf – the chikorita.

She looked confused at first, looking around herself. She then turned around to face her master. Her eyes were huge and colored in a soft shade of red.

However, Leaf didn't look happy at all. She rather looked angry.

"Chika!" she shouted.

"Leaf, let me explain.." Cynthia said and attempted to pick her chikorita up from the ground.

Leaf, however, had other plans. She quickly used razor leaf on her master. It made the young girl arms bleed.

"Hey, what was that for?!" she shouted.

Leaf turned her back on her master. She then sat down. Cynthia found some bandage from her shoulder and covered the open wounds. Damn, that was hurting. She looked at her Pokémon and sighed.

"At least eat something, Leaf." She said and gave her some Pokémon food. Chikorita ate it, but she refused to look at Cynthia.

Cynthia ate her food as well. She wasn't surprised that Leaf was angry, but she hadn't expected her to attack Cynthia. She sighed while watching the back of her Pokémon. This was really her new start. She had to befriend Leaf again, just like she did five years ago.

"Hey, Leaf, I'm sorry for what happened last time. I expected too much of you." Cynthia said. Leaf didn't respond. She didn't act like she cared at all.

After finishing the meal, Cynthia packed her shoulder bag. She then picked up Leaf's Pokéball.

"Leaf, return." She said. Leaf refused to return. She ran from the red energy trying to catch her. What was it that she wanted now? She didn't want to look at Cynthia, but she refused to return to her Pokéball?

"Fine, do whatever you want! I don't care if you're angry with me. I just want to undo my mistake." Cynthia shouted.

"Chika." Leaf responded.

Having no other choice, Cynthia grabbed her shoulder bag and went further into the thick forest. Leaf was behind her. At least she was following her.

* * *

They stopped walking when they came to a huge river. It wouldn't be easy to pass this one and the current looked dangerously strong.

"Okay, Leaf. It's time we need your help." Cynthia said and looked around herself. A couple meters from them were a tall tree. They could probably use it to cross the river if they could only chop the tree down.

"Leaf, I want you to use razor leaf on that tree. If we can shop it down, we might be able to use it to cross over this river." Cynthia said.

Leaf looked at the tree and then at the river. She then sat down and did absolutely nothing. This was beginning to get really old. In anger, I kicked the tree standing beside me and screamed out loud.

"I ask one little favor from you, and you turn me down because of what happened FIVE GODDAMN YEARS AGO!" Cynthia shouted. She kicked the tree a few more times before settling down. She fell on her knees in front of her chikorita, her only Pokémon companion: What if she would never listen to Cynthia, then what would happen?

 _I won't return empty-handed again, I won't quit!_ Cynthia got up and looked at her chikorita again. If she didn't want to do as Cynthia said, then she would do the work herself … _somehow_.

She didn't have an axe … nor did she have a knife. She began pushing the tree. It wouldn't budge one bit. She then tried to kick it. That didn't do it either.

It would be midnight before they would reach the next town if Leaf didn't lift a finger now. Cynthia looked at her chikorita. She stared at the river. She seem to have flash backs from that day. If she could only get over what happened …

Cynthia was about to snap Leaf out of the flash back she presumably had when a noise caught her attention. It was a cry from a Pokémon. Which one?

Leaf was also listening after the cry. Cynthia knew that face across the tiny Pokémons face. She wanted a battle.

 _Of course, she wants a battle; that battle spirit will never die from her,_ Cynthia thought. Leaf would probably not listen to her, but she would defiantly battle another Pokémon. If that were how Cynthia would be able to gain Leaf's respect, she would go for it.

"Go, Leaf, razor leaf!" Cynthia commanded. Chikorita obeyed and used razor leaf where the crying sound were loudest.

Another cry and out of the tall grass came a polivag. It was small and looked scared. Cynthia wanted to catch it. She could at least capture new Pokémons while she was still on her journey.

"Tackle it, Leaf!" Cynthia said. Leaf obeyed once more and tackled the water Pokémon.

"Now, razor leaf once more." Leaf tossed the razor leaf at the polivag. Cynthia found a Pokéball. She tossed it at the weaken Pokémon and watched as it turned into red light and went inside the Pokéball. It wiggled a bit before it finally stopped, implying that polivag had been caught.

"Great job, Leaf!" Cynthia said and picked up the Pokéball containing her newly caught polivag. She took out her Pokédex and looked up information about polivag. It was a pure water type and knew many neat moves. This one could grow to be a strong Pokémon.

"Leaf, do you listen to me now? Huh … Leaf?" Cynthia looked around herself. Leaf was gone. Where the hell could she be?! That tiny Pokémon hadn't just wandered off by herself, had she?

"Hey, Leaf! Leaf!" Cynthia shouted. No respond. This was bad, she could get hurt out there. Beating up a polivag was one thing, but what if she met a huger Pokémon like ursaring or fearow?

"Polivag, come out." Cynthia let out her new Pokémon. Polivag looked around itself, confused at first. It then looked up at its new master.

"Hey, little one. Look, we gotta find that chikorita, got it?" the tadpole Pokémon nodded and went off to find Leaf. Cynthia looked around as well.

* * *

Hours went without either Cynthia or her polivag found any trace after Leaf. Cynthia sat on a stone, staring at the river she needed to cross in order to get to the other city.

"This is the only way … but I think the current here are too strong for you to help me, polivag." She said. Cynthia had gained more information about polivag, though. It was female. Cynthia had given her the name Spiral. Cynthia wasn't really creative when it came to nickname. Also, she wanted to name her Pokémon after something that represented them. The name "Leaf" for her chikorita represented the leaf hovering over her head. The name "Spiral" for her polivag represented her spiral feature stomach.

Cynthia sighed. Leaf had probably left Cynthia alone after helping her catch Spiral. Leaf only obeyed her because she wanted another Pokémon to replace her so she had a reason to leave. That was childish of her, but how could Cynthia blame her? After all, if she had just done things differently that day …

Something came out of the tall grass. Both Spiral and Cynthia looked at the tall shadow. _Oh shit,_ Cynthia thought and got up from the stone. It was a huge ursaring. Cynthia knew that if she did something to taunt this Pokémon, she was done for it.

"Return." She commanded Sprial to return to her Pokéball. Cynthia had to slowly leave this place and she knew that if she ended up with an angry ursaring running after her, polivag would be no help to her.

Slowly, she began to step away from the huge bear Pokémon. _Don't do anything to taunt or disturb it_ , the young teenager told herself while slowly creating a distant between herself and the huge Pokémon.

She must have stepped on a wet stone, because she suddenly fell backwards and made a loud crying noise. The ursaring turned its attention against the young girl. It stared at her. _Stay calm_ , Cynthia told herself while slowly getting up.

Somehow, this really upset the ursaring. It began to roar in anger and charge against the girl. Cynthia ran off the opposite direction. Where the hell should she run? Polivag wasn't able to fight this Pokémon and Leaf was gone: Not that she would be any better, though.

Again, the girl tripped on a slippery rock and fell. She looked up at the angry face of the ursaring. She screamed in fear as it was about to use hammer arm. That's when something tiny and green charge against him, stopping him in the process of hitting me with a hammer arm. The Pokémon looked around himself before a tiny, green Pokémon lunged at it, hitting it with a tackle. Was that …?

Cynthia could only watch as the two Pokémon fought each other. None of them really had any advantage over each other. Chikorita was fast, but ursaring was stronger. While she could dodge its attack and attack more, hers attack were weaker compared to ursarings, though it didn't hit once due to Leaf's speed.

The ursaring suddenly lunged a powerful hyper beam against Leaf. She was able to dodge it, but it was coming Cynthias way. She jumped to her left. Her right arm still got hit by the attack. It was a painful burning feeling and Cynthia didn't dare to touch the burned wound.

Cynthia quickly turned her attention when the ursaring began to scream in pain. It was covering its left eye with his arm. Cynthia could see blood drops on the ground. Had … had Leaf done something to its eye? But before the girl could guess more, the ursaring ran off into the woods.

Cynthia looked at Leaf. She was breathing heavily while glaring at the blood she had spilled. It wasn't much: just three drops, but she still stared at it with a look on her face Cynthia had never seen before. Was she feeling guilty?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Cynthia fell down on the ground, having passed out. This snapped the chikorita out of the guilt and made her look at her master. It was beginning to become dark and Leaf alone couldn't carry her master home. The chikorita looked at the tree her master wanted her to cut down earlier.

* * *

 _ **The Pokémon party:**_

 _ **Cynthia Holloway, the trainer. (F)**_

 _ **Leaf, the chikorita. (F)**_

 _ **Spiral, the polivag. (F)**_

 ** _I just want to note a couple of things about this fan-fiction:_**

 ** _1\. We're not in Kanto or any of the other region that exist in the games/anime. This is my own made region._**

 ** _2\. A fainted Pokémon is a dead Pokémon. If a Pokémon has fainted, it has died. If it is fainTING it can still be saved from its death._**

 ** _3\. Pokémon attacks can harm people, unless the Pokémon (somehow) can command the attack to not harm (much like how the moltres flame didn't harm Ash in the anime)_**


	2. The holes that still remain

**Pokémon fan-fiction - Chapter 2 " _The holes that still remain"_**

Cynthia quickly opened her eyes and got up, which resulted in pain coming from her right arm. She looked at it. It was bandage. Where was she? She was in a room, laying on a bed. She was still wearing her tank top, but her jacket and boots were taken off.

The last thing she remember was Leaf and that ursaring fighting in the middle of a forest beside a river. How had she ended up here? This wasn't her home.

"Oh dear, you're already awake!" said a voice.

Cynthia turned her head and saw an old lady, probably in her mid-60's standing in the door. She wore huge glasses, which made her huge much huger than they probably were, and she had short, curly hair. It was still trace of her original color, which was dark blonde, she was short and was wearing a dress with flower pattern on.

"I thought you might wake up later, you see. Those wounds of yours look terrible. Why don't you tell me your name and what happened?" she said.

Cynthia told the old lady her name and told her about Leaf, Spiral and that ursaring. She never interrupted or looked away. She listened to her and looked at her with understanding eyes.

"So it was a hyper beam that caused this … I should've known. Ursarings are pretty common in this forest: someone should have warned ya." She said. "By the way, I forgot to tell you my name! My name is Margret, but please call me Maggie. I live here and the only visitor is my grandson Riley occasionally. I was a bit surprised when that chikorita of yours came and wanted me to help you. That's one brave Pokémon: not every Pokémon would jump in their masters defense against a ursaring. Of course, I had to call Riley and get him to help me carry you over the river and to my house. I treated your wounds, and that chikorita never left your side since."

Cynthia looked around the room for Leaf. She was still in the room: she was sleeping on a chair next to the bed Cynthia was laying on. She looked tired. Leaf had probably stayed up all night, watching her master. But … but why had she left after Cynthia had caught Spiral, only to return.

"I also fixed that jacket of your. It was badly burned, but nothing impossible to fix. Come down and have something to eat before you leave." Maggie said and left the room.

That's when Leaf woke up. She stretched out before she noticed Cynthia was awake. Her eyes light up. Cynthia put on her boots and looked at her.

"Chika." She said.

She didn't sound happy or relived: she sounded more like: "Oh, so you're still alive, huh?"

This began to annoy Cynthia. We had once been best friends and so close, almost impossible to separate. Now, she acted like an irritating, selfish kid. If she didn't want to change her attitude soon, then Cynthia would actually leave her.

"If you don't like or care about me, then why the hell did you come back for me when that ursaring attacked?!" Cynthia shouted.

She responded by using razor leaf on the girl. It made the bandage loose and a new wound on Cynthia's cheek. If this continued, Cynthia would return to her father as a mummy.

"Cut it out, already! Leaf, return." Cynthia said and made the chikorita return to her Pokéball. She sighed while fixing the bandages. She then cleaned the new wound on her face and went downstairs to Maggie and a boy, presumably her grandson Riley.

"What happened to your face, dear?!" Maggie put a patch on it and shook her head. "Never mind that. Sit down and meet my grandson I was talking about." She said and returned to the kitchen.

Riley was a bit older than Cynthia was. His hair was short and just as with Maggie, he also had curly hair. Unlike Maggie, however, his hair was dark brown. He was a bit paler than the old lady. Their eyes were the same color: hazel.

"My name is Riley. You're Cynthia, right?" he said. She nodded. He smiled friendly to the girl. He seemed nice. Maybe they would meet again someday on her journey.

"Tell me, Cynthia, are you a Pokémon trainer?" Riley asked.

"I … I don't really know what I am anymore. I …" the girl sighed. "I went on this journey to find out what I want to do." She replied.

It was true: Cynthia had no idea what to do with her life. She wasn't a Pokémon trainer … nor was she a student at school. Cynthia was just tired of her miserable town. She was ghost there, while here she was a failure.

"Well, then good luck to you." Riley said. Cynthia mumbled something like "thank you" before Maggie served them breakfast.

Cynthia thanked both Riley and Maggie before leaving them for the next town. She had been lucky that these people were nice enough to help her. She might not be as lucky next time this could happen.

Leaf was the real one to thank, actually. Cynthia attempted to let her out, but she remembered that she might use razor leaf on her again, and she didn't want any more of that nonsense.

* * *

When she reached the town, named Cellidan City, she sat down on a bench and sighed. Now that she was here … what would she do? When she was ten, she had challenged the gym leader. It had been a male, was he still there? Should she challenge him?

No, she only had two Pokémon: one who wouldn't listen to her and one who were newly caught. She wasn't ready to challenge him. She needed to befriend Leaf again. Also, if memory served Cynthia well, she would need three Pokémon in order to challenge the gym leader, and she only had two.

 _I need to get a new one … what was his specialty again? I think it was grass,_ Cynthia said to herself. Grass were strong against water, electric, grass and ground. This was already bad. The two Pokémon Cynthia had now was grass and water type. What was grass types weak against? Oh yeah, they were weak to fire, ice, poison, bug and flying types. All Cynthia had to do is find one with the advantage and she would have some chance in winning.

"Hey, I remember your face!" A male voice said. Cynthia turned her attention to the voice and froze. It was him … the day went in reprise inside of her head.

"Vincent?" Cynthia stuttered. Last time she had seen him, he was ten. They were now both fifteen. He looked somewhat the same and not. His hair was longer and seemed darker, almost black. His eyes were dark brown and hiding behind some glasses. He was also taller.

"Long time, no see … Cynthia wasn't it?" he said and smirked. Cynthia got up and frowned. What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to collect badges and become a champion?

"Vincent, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I almost had forgot how impolite you act. I am here to collect the badge for this city's gym." He said.

Cynthia frowned. This didn't make any sense at all. Why would he collect badges now? What had he done for five years if he hadn't collected badges to be in the league?

"But … but I thought you did the same five years ago?" she said.

"Oh, _please!_ Did you really thought I would be _that_ stupid? Ten years old have no idea what they're doing when they challenge the gym leaders. Oh no, my dear, I captured many types of Pokémon and trained them all. Now I have the strongest team of Pokémon and I will win every gym battle and the league!" Vincent said, probably very proud of himself. He had probably changed in his appearance, but he sure was the same kid she met five years ago.

"Oh, so good for you." Cynthia said, not really caring about his oh holy Pokémon party.

"Oh, don't stand there looking so smug, dear. I haven't seen you collect badges either. You and that no good excuse for a Pokémon. Has she even evolved?" Vincent asked.

Why was everyone so busy evolving their Pokémon? Cynthia had never had rushed her Pokémons evolution. Evolution happened when it wanted to. Besides, many attacks couldn't be learned in a final evolution that were actually good.

"No, but it doesn't matter. Some people _actually_ don't rush their Pokémons evolution." Cynthia replied sharply.

"That's just torturing them! I know, let's have a battle." Vincent said.

 _No,_ said a voice in her head. There was no time for battle and her Pokémon was still not trusting her a 100 %.

Besides, she was about to capture a third Pokémon and then win their respect before challenging the gym. If she won the gym battle, she would consider trying to be a trainer once again.

"I'm sorry, Vincent, but not today. You see, I just have started my new journey and I have some recovering to catch up with. In addition, I need to train my Pokémon a bit more." Cynthia said.

She got up from the bench and started to walk away. The ten-year-old Vincent would taunt her until she would say yes to battle. Not this time, however. He let her go, because he was older and wiser.

Or so she thought. He ran after her and walked beside her. He would probably have grabbed her arm and force her to stop if it weren't for the wounds.

"Let me help you!" he said.

"Why? Weren't you here to challenge the gym leader?" Cynthia asked him.

"Well … you see: he's not here for the moment. I went to the gym, but the caretaker said he had gone somewhere and wouldn't come back in a while. I figured I could go to the next town and challenge the gym there, but then I saw you." Vincent said.

Cynthia didn't respond at first. Why should she allow her old rival help her? She didn't trust him: this was a trap. He wanted to "help" her so he could use advantage over her by teaching her strategy he could counter with his own.

"I don't need your help, Vince." Cynthia said with a cold tone.

"Auch, that one hurts! How do you expect to train your Pokémon with that arm of yours?" he asked the girl.

"It isn't impossible. Leave me alone, already." Cynthia said.

"I only want to help, Cynthia. I've grown up to quite the gentleman, you see." Vincent said, very proud of himself.

Cynthia rolled her eyes and stopped walking. She looked the guy in the eyes and said:

"I'm not your damsel in distress, Vincent. Now, bug off before I am forced to make you go away." Cynthia said.

Vincent sighed, looking at the young teenager before slowly walking away from her. Cynthia made sure he was out of her sight before walking into the Cellidan Park. There would be a lot of space to train her Pokémon there.

* * *

"Come on out." Cynthia said and let out her two only Pokémons: Leaf the chikorita and Spiral the polivag.

"Okay, you two, we need to train in order for us to get stronger." She said while kneeling in front of the Pokémons.

Sprial seemed very motivated for training, while Leaf turned her attention away from her master. Cynthia sighed. She should have expected this by now.

"Come on, Leaf, if you don't like me, you would've left by now. Can't we just work this out together?" Cynthia said.

She was desperate now. She didn't want to catch two new Pokémons for only one gym battle. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to be a trainer or not. Leaf was her strongest Pokémon and the only Pokémon she knew well. This journey would be a waste of time if she had to start completely over again with only new Pokémon.

If she could only communicate with Leaf, get to know what was wrong and fix it. Then what? Would it go back to normal? Cynthia bit her own lip: a habit from back home.

 _Stop it, you left that town: their business is no more of your deal,_ Cynthia told herself. There was no need for her to think about the depressing town, Petonie; the town Cynthia's forced to call her "home".

"Poli?" Cynthia looked at Spiral. She looked worried. Cynthia smiled and kneeled in front of her.

"You don't have to worry, I'm all right." Cynthia said.

She heard Leaf saying "chika" in way like it would sound in human: "Oh, really?" Like she had an opinion! She was the one who began attacking me. That ursaring was probably pissed off before it even met her. She just … she probably just annoyed it, that's all. Leaf didn't have to save Cynthia. It'd actually be better off if she hadn't.

 _No, stop it! She saved your life and now you wish you were dead? Be more grateful,_ Cynthia told herself. She took some deep breaths before turning her attention to Leaf, who had her back turned against her.

"Hey, look, Leaf: I'm sorry for how I have acted against you. Just … just don't attack me again. What happened with that ursaring was my fault: you saved my life and I am very grateful for what you did: not many Pokémons would have down what you did back there." Cynthia said.

Leaf turned her head slightly, looking at Cynthia. For a second, she could have sworn she had seen a glance of the Leaf Cynthia had used to known. But as soon as Cynthia's face lit up, Leaf turned away.

"Chikaaa.." She said. It did sound like she was in pain, but denied it.

"Hey, what's wrong, Leaf?" Cynthia said and extended her arm against the grass Pokémon. Leaf quickly used vine whip to whip her arm. Cynthia backed away just in time.

Cynthia saw a glance of Leaf's red eyes. They looked like they were full of pain. What had happened? Maybe nurse Joy could help.

"Spiral, return." She commanded and picked up Leaf: who surprisingly didn't fight back. Cynthia ran to the Pokémon center. Whatever was happening to Leaf, Cynthia just knew it was bad.

"Nurse Joy, you need to help me!" Cynthia said once the pink haired woman showed up. She jumped a bit when she saw the young teenager, but quickly calmed down.

"What seems to be the problem?" she asked.

"My chikorita … I don't know what's wrong with her. She just suddenly cried out in pain out of nowhere. Oh please … _help me._ " Cynthia said.

"Now, now: calm down. Of course, I will help your Pokémon. Just hand her over to me." Joy said.

Cynthia handed over Leaf to the nurse and she disappeared into the examination room. The girl went into the waiting room and sat down.

* * *

It went probably an hour and a half before Joy finally came out of the examination room. She walked straight to Cynthia.

"Your chikorita will be just fine. She just got overexcited. I recommend you let her rest today." Joy said.

For no reason, Cynthia ran out of the Pokémon. Tears were streaming down her face. The guilt build itself up, ready to explode any minute. _Leaf … I have failed you and I'm … I'm so sorry …_

Cynthia ran to the observation point: an old, abandon lighthouse. The door, however, was still open for no reason. Cynthia walked all the way up and went outside. She now had a view of the sea as long as the eye could see. The wind was blowing gently. Cynthia untied her hair and let it blow in the wind. It felt incredible.

This place, this view in particular had something calming to it. When Cynthia was ten, she had met Vincent at Cellidan city, he had showed her this place.

* * *

" _Someday, I will become the world's greatest champion!"_

" _First you have to win eight badges, then the league and then elite four and then you have to defeat the champion before you can call yourself a champion."_

"… _Do you ever think positive?"_

" _What would you expect from someone living in Hazenn Town?"_

" _True, but still. You're not like them, Cynthia. You left to become something greater than them."_

"…"

" _You gotta stop comparing yourself to those losers. Hazenn Town is behind you now: you gotta focus on the present and future. The past is something you cannot change no matter what you do."_

" _But I'm still only ten."_

" _I hate the concept of age. It shouldn't matter: you can do whatever you want to as long as you are willing to do so. I'm ten and I already know what to do with my future!"_

* * *

Cynthia didn't realize she was having a flash back until someone to her left was laughing gently and mockingly. Cynthia looked to her left. There, standing just a couple of feet away from her was Vincent. His long, dark blue hair was blowing gently in the wind. He pushed his glasses further up the nose; he had a confident and mockingly smirk across his face.

"Looking back at old memories, are we, eh?" he said.

"I didn't see you there, Vince."

"Of course, you didn't. You were too busy crying like a huge baby. It was just like that day five years ago …" he said and sighed.

She turned her attention to the sea. It was just lying there peacefully with nothing to worry about. Shining bright like diamonds while the sun was hovering above it. So full of harmony and peace. Cynthia wished she could be like that one day.

"I still believe in my dream, you know," Vincent was standing right beside Cynthia. She looked at him, frowning. He smiled mockingly.

"I still want to become the champion. I want to see everyone kneel down in front of me and look at me with respect. I used these five years to collect the strongest team possible. Six Pokémon that will be my partners through everything. My partners, my friends and my spirit." Vincent said.

Cynthia was jealous at Vincent: He was confident and knew what his place on Earth was. He knew what his dream was and would use his life to for fill that dream.

 _And … and what about me? What is my dream? My goal,_ Cynthia asked herself. Cynthia still didn't know what to do. Should she try to become a trainer again? There was only one way to find that out.

To challenge the gym leader of Cellidan City.

With a sigh, Cynthia began to tie her hair again. Vincent was right there, all sudden.

"Let me help you. That arm of yours shouldn't be exposed to such poses: the wounds could open again."

Her arms sank down as Vincent was tying her hair. He seemed to know what he was doing, at least. She hated when someone who had no knowledge about hair tried to braid or tie it up. It always turned out as a mess.

"You know … my little sister is soon to turn ten. She will go on her own journey … not to become a champion but a coordinator. I would never have guessed my shy little sister to want to become something so great. She hates when she's the attention. Maybe she'll grow up from that shyness." Vincent said.

Cynthia knew Vincent came from Littletoon Town. It wasn't huge: it was only a passing through. No gym, just a Pokémon center.

What she didn't know was that he had a little sister. She could only imagine a mini-Vincent. The only thing was that she sounded so different from him. Vincent was calm, confident and smart. This girl sounded like a shy, lonely soul. Poor thing probably had grown up in her older brother's shadow.

"There." Vincent stepped away. Cynthia turned around and looked at him, this confident young man. Her old rival.

And he still was her rival.

"Thanks, Vincent. Good luck with your gym battle." Cynthia said and left the lighthouse. She now knew what she had to do.

* * *

 _ **The Pokémon party:**_

 _ **Cynthia Holloway, the trainer (F)**_

 _ **Leaf, the chikorita (F)**_

 _ **Spiral, the polivag (F)**_


	3. Friends with the fire

**Pokémon fan-fiction – Chapter 3 _"_** _ **Friends with the fire"**_

"She still needs rest. Her heart was pumping too much blood too fast. Her heart has calmed down some now, but it's still overexcited. She needs more time." Nurse Joy told Cynthia.

The girl nodded and looked at Leaf. She was laying on a bed, resting. A machine connected to her, most likely a cardiac monitor. Cynthia still felt guilt for how she had acted against Leaf. She should've known …

"Leaf … I love you. Just so you know." Cynthia said before leaving the Pokémon center. She and Spiral would be training and, hopefully, catch a new member of their party.

* * *

"Come on out, Spiral!" Cynthia let out her polivag out from her Pokéball. She jumped the second she saw her master. Cynthia smiled and sat down in front of her.

"Today, we'll do some extra training while Leaf is at the Pokémon center resting. I want to challenge the gym leader here, but in order for that to happen: I have to catch another Pokémon. I was hoping you would help me, Spiral." Cynthia said.

"Poli!" she said and jumped in excitement. She wanted to help her.

"Great! Now, let's head into this forest. I'm sure we will find some strong Pokémon in here." Cynthia said. Together with Spiral, the two of them went into the forest outside of Cellidan City.

"Sure is dark in here." Cynthia commented while walking around in the forest. They had encountered some Pokémon, but not caught any of them. Cynthia trusted her gut when it came to capture Pokémon: she didn't just capture the first one she'd meet. She would capture those she saw potential and kindness.

Just like with Spiral. Cynthia just knew they would be partners for a long time. Unless … unless she fainted. No, Cynthia wouldn't let that happen. She knew how it was to lose a Pokémon and she didn't want to go through that again.

A fainted Pokémon was a Pokémon that had died of sickness, the natural way or damage. When Cynthia was ten, she had lost one of her Pokémon after a gym battle. She remember how depressed and lost Cynthia felt.

That's when all of the other Pokémon was there to support and comfort her: most of all Leaf. The day when Cynthia had chosen Leaf as her partner, she had done it because she saw kindness beyond anything. Being from Hazenn meant coming from the depression town. Nothing was colorful and joyful about that town. All gray and miserable.

Which was why Cynthia had left. That town wasn't for her. She didn't like to be negative and colorless. She wanted to become something positive and colorful. Something she enjoyed to do, which was to travel with her Pokémon and meet different people and places in this region.

Suddenly, a light. An orange pulsating light surrounded by the darkness. Was that a Pokémon? Cynthia slowly came closer and looked over the bush where the light came from.

It was indeed a Pokémon. A gorgeous one. A cream-colored horse with flames burning its body. So elegant and beautiful. _I want it,_ Cynthia thought and sent Spiral to attack it.

"Spiral, use water gun!" Cynthia commanded.

Spiral obeyed and used water gun on the fire horse. It jumped a bit, because it hadn't noticed the teenager and polivag before now.

It made a crying noise before attacking with fire spin.

"Dodge and use double slap!" Cynthia said.

Spiral dodged the fire spin elegantly before then use her tail to slap the Pokémon.

It cried out again and then used double kick. It hit Spiral once … twice! She flew off and hit a tree, but was right back up.

"Spiral, use hypnosis." Cynthia commanded.

The Pokémon tried to look away, but it was useless. Within seconds, the horse was fast asleep. Cynthia found a Pokéball from her shoulder bag and threw it at the Pokémon.

It turned into red energy and went inside. It wiggled a couple of times before it stopped. _Got'cha!_ Cynthia ran and picked up her newly caught Pokémon. She scanned the Pokéball to see what she had caught.

It was a ponyta, male and not too shabby. He knew some quite good moves. This would come in handy when she would challenge the gym.

That was … when he would return. Cynthia had almost forgotten that Vincent had said he wasn't at the gym for the moment.

 _That just gives me extra time to train with my Pokémon,_ Cynthia thought. She made Spiral return to her Pokéball and went out of the forest.

* * *

"She's still resting, you know." Nurse Joy said when she passed me. Cynthia was standing in a corridor, looking through the glass at her chikorita. She was still feeling guilty for what had happened to her.

"I'm sorry if it bothers you." Cynthia said.

"Not really, it's just that you have to understand that healing and such takes time." Joy said.

"I understand: I just feel so guilty." Cynthia lowered her head. She couldn't even look at Leaf anymore. It was too painful.

A hand placed itself gently on her shoulder. Cynthia looked up and looked into nurse Joy's kind, blue eyes.

"Such times like these cannot be ignored. I assume you're a trainer, am I right?" she said.

"To be honest, I have no idea what I am anymore." Cynthia said, lowing her head again.

Nurse Joy sighed and placed a hand under the girls chin, forcing the girl to look up at the young nurse.

"It doesn't matter who you are: your Pokémon loves you enough to battle and be with you. Some may not express their love like you'd expect, but they do indeed love you. Times like these are hard, but just remember that it happened and that's because of your bond with your Pokémon." Nurse Joy said.

"Now, I suggest you go out and do something else. I will take care of your chikorita." Joy said before letting go of the teen and leaving her.

Cynthia still stood there, frozen like a statue. Those words were so true … but Cynthia still had a hard time accepting them as facts. She still felt guilty.

She took one more look at Leaf before leaving the center once more. What was she going to do? Train? Walk around like an idiot? What the hell was she going to do while Leaf was healing?!

* * *

Cynthia went to a café to get something to eat. She ordered an ordinary salad with pasta. She looked out the window at Cellidan City and began to have flashback from five years ago.

She remembered how she felt the first time she'd come to this city. So huge and different from Hazenn Town. Cynthia had been so sure she would be able to take down the gym leader with no problem at all. Of course, she was given a couple lesion after the gym battle.

Ten year old Cynthia had been a fool: a brave, but stupid kid. Maybe Vincent had a point … maybe ten year olds weren't able of understand battling and Pokémon.

Someone sat down at the other side of the table. When Cynthia looked up, she froze. What the hell was he doing here?!

"Are you stalking me or something?" she asked after swallowing her food.

"Not right now, dear." Vincent replied. He smirked. His answer made Cynthia almost choking. Not now? So … he was stalking her otherwise? That's … kind off disturbing.

"What is it that you want?" she mumbled.

"It's very impolite to talk while eating, Cynthia. Anyway, I was going to ask you something." He said. Cynthia continued to eat her salad. After all, Vincent had a point: it _was_ impolite to talk while eating. Not caring for a respond, Vincent continued to talk.

"As we both know, the gym leader isn't around at this moment. I was planning on going to a different gym, but I have changed my mind. I will train my Pokémon. Cynthia … I want a battle with you."

Again, the girl almost swallowed her food the wrong hatch. What the?! He wanted to battle her? But she had only three Pokémon! One of them was unable to battle and two of them newly caught. She could demand on Spiral to listen to her, but not Ponyta, nicknamed Flare.

"I don't think it's such a good idea, Vincent." Cynthia said. She finished her meal and pushed the plate away.

"Why? I know you just started your journey, but don't you think your Pokémon should train some before you challenge the gym, which I, of course, suppose you are, eh?" Vincent gave Cynthia a creepy stalker look.

She shivered and looked out the window. Everything outside seemed so normal. Cynthia began to wonder how she would've acted if she'd be raised in a normal city or town like Cellidan and not Hazenn.

 _Maybe he's right, maybe I need to train my Pokémon,_ Cynthia thought and looked at this confident creeper. She sighed.

"I only have two of my Pokémon, though. Chikorita is at the Pokémon center." Cynthia said.

"Then I'll use my two weakest Pokémon against you, to make it fair." Vincent said.

"It's a deal. Right now, I'll have to pay. Meet you in the park." Cynthia said and left the table to pay for the salad.

* * *

"Are you ready, my dear?" Vincent said. They were standing in Cellidan Park, ready to battle each other's Pokémon. Cynthia wasn't sure which Pokémon Vincent was carrying. What he considered weak might also overpower her.

She had to believe in Spiral and Flare. They were her partners now. They would stick together through thick and thin on her journey to find her destiny.

"Spiral, go!" Cynthia sent out her female polivag. She looked ready to fight. Good thing, or else this could end up chaotic.

"A water type, eh? Lopunny, ready to fight?!" Vincent sent out his Lopunny, a tall rabbit colored in brown and yellow. It looked harmless, but one should never be fooled by how a Pokémon looked: they could be dangerous despite their look.

"You may have the first move, my dear." Vincent said.

"Spiral, use water gun!" Cynthia commanded.

Polivag obeyed and used water gun, targeting at lopunny. Without Vincent's command, it used bounce to dodge the attack.

Cynthia's jaw dropped. It was quick, and it dodge even without its master's command. It was obviously trained well, despite Vincent calling it one of the weakest Pokémon he had in his current party.

"Well done, lopunny. Now, dizzy punch." Vincent commanded.

Before Cynthia was able to command anything, lopunny punched Spiral multiple times. This could cause confusion.

Suddenly, lopunny jumped away from polivag. Spiral was spinning, as if dizzy. _Damn, she's confused,_ Cynthia thought. There was a possibility she could use one move without screwing up.

"Polivag, use hypnosis!" Cynthia commanded.

It was a success and lopunny couldn't escape. It fell down, fast asleep. Finally, this battle was going her way.

Vincent smirked. This wasn't a good sign. He had a plan, because he knew Cynthia would use hypnosis.

"Lopunny, sleep talk." Vincent said.

Sleep talk? What the hell was that? Cynthia had never heard of it.

Lopunny, despite being asleep, attacked the confused polivag with jump kick. But … but that wasn't what Vincent had told it to do.

"Confused, eh? Sleep talk makes a Pokémon, who is asleep, attack the foe. What the attack is random, however." Vincent said.

Smart, so even asleep, lopunny could still attack Spiral. But Spiral could also attack, though confused. There were always a chance for it to attack itself, but also attack the foe as well. This battle was turning into gambling on attacks.

"Spiral, hit yourself with double slap!"

She did it. She actually did it. Multiple times she hit herself with double slap. When she was done, she was no longer confused.

"Good, now: use water gun on lopunny!" Cynthia commanded.

"Sleep talk." Vincent said. He was now the one gambling. He didn't know what attack or defense could come from lopunny.

Lopunny, to Cynthia's irritation, used protect. The water gun didn't hit it. This could be harder than Cynthia had expected.

What was worse was that lopunny woke up. It quickly got up, ready to fight. Polivag had taken a lot of damage. This was it.

"Spiral, use surf!" Cynthia commanded.

The water Pokémon summoned a lot of water into one huge wave. She then tossed it towards lopunny. It covered its face with its arms and took the hit.

Cynthia watched until the wave were gone. Breathing heavily, lopunny was kneeling and shaking. This was no time to celebrate, they had to attack at once.

"Spiral, use double slap!"

Polivag slapped lopunny multiple times. Lopunny didn't fight back. After the eight slap, Spiral jumped away from lopunny's reaching point.

The rabbit Pokémon fell down, having passed out. It was unable to battle.

"Huh, impressive indeed from such a tiny Pokémon. Well done." Vincent said and called lopunny back to its Pokéball.

"This one might be a bit trickier, however." He added while changing Pokéball to his next.

"Spiral, return." Cynthia said and smiled down to the Pokéball. "You were wonderful, thank you." She whispered and picked up Flare's Pokéball. Their first battle. This was the moment of truth.

Lopunny had been one tricky Pokémon to fight. This one would probably be harder. The only thing that could ruin this was a disobeying Pokémon from Cynthia's side.

"Hypno, time for battle!" Vincent sent out a yellow creature carrying a pendulum device. It was a psychic type. This could mean trouble. Taking a deep breath, Cynthia sent out her Pokémon.

"Go, Flare!"

Ponyta came out, still looking elegant. It already looked ready to battle, which was a good sign. _Let's make this one count,_ Cynthia thought.

"Hm … interesting. Hypno, use shadow ball." Vincent commanded.

Before Cynthia was able to blink, hypno tossed a huge shadow ball against Flare. Without her command, he used double team. He surrounded the hypno.

"Psychic." Vincent said.

Hypno closed its eyes and used psychic, eliminating the fake ponytas. Standing to hypno's left was the real ponyta. Flare wasn't able to react before hypno used psychic on him. Hovering helplessly in the air, Flare began to panic.

Vincent smirked as he gave his hypno a new command.

"Toss it."

Hypno tossed Flare hard against the ground. This caused damage, but he was right up on his feet, ready to fight more.

"Use fire spin!" Cynthia commanded.

Flare obeyed, but instead of using fire spin directly on hypno, he rather used it to surround hypno with flames. Not what Cynthia had in mind, but it was working. Having flames surrounding it, Hypno stood still, not moving any close to the flames.

"Hypno, use hypnosis." Vincent command.

In just a few seconds, Flare was laying fast asleep. This was bad, really bad. Cynthia wasn't even sure if ponyta knew the move sleep talk. If so, it was gambling, because she didn't know what kind of attack of defense Flare could use then.

"Follow with dream eater."

Hypno used dream eater on the sleeping ponyta. He quickly woke up again, but he panicked and was weaker now. This was bad. They had to watch out for hypnosis and dream eater.

"Are you okay, Flare?" she asked him.

Flare calmed down and looked at Cynthia. He nodded and made a crying sound. He wanted to continue.

"Okay, then use flame wheel!" Cynthia commanded.

He obeyed and attacked hypno with flame wheel. It did some damage. Hypno, with no command, used psybeam to push the flame wheel away from it. Vincent said nothing, neither did Cynthia. This was becoming a battle to see who would last the longest: Flare's flamewheel or hypno's psybeam.

Flare lost. He backed away and got hit by hypno's psybeam. He fell down, unable to continue. Cynthia quickly made him return to his Pokéball.

"Hypno, good work. Take a good rest." Hypno returned in to its Pokéball. Vincent smiled to Cynthia: both confident and impressed.

"That was one good battle, Cynthia. I'm impressed with both of your Pokémon. I'm sure they will grow to some wonderful, strong Pokémon in the future." Vincent said.

Cynthia blushed and lowered her head while thanking Vincent. They both, together, went to the Pokémon center to heal their Pokémon. In addition, Cynthia asked for Leaf.

"She's doing better. Soon, she will be all right." Nurse Joy replied and disappeared with the Pokéballs.

Cynthia sat down in the waiting room and sighed out of exhaustion. She hadn't battle like that in many years. Geez, it wasn't easy commanding around these Pokémon. Spiral was easy, because she obeyed her. Flare did sometimes follow her orders, but he did have a different battle style than she's used to. They would have to work out something both of hers and his style. It would be all right in the end.

"You really gave me some trouble back there: I didn't expect your Pokémon to be that strong." Vincent said.

"We still have a long way, though." Cynthia mumbled.

"I do so too. Hell, I need to train my lopunny more: if a polivag can beat her, then I'm in trouble."

"It was pure luck, that battle. If I hadn't put her to sleep, lopunny would've won over Spiral." Cynthia said.

Vincent laughed mockingly. That bastard! How dare he?! Cynthia became so mad that she slapped him across the face. It made the smug boy quiet.

"... what the hell was that for?!"

"Your smug and irritating laughter." Cynthia said.

"So you slap people because of their laughter..?"

"Don't be silly, I'm not a child. You're just beginning to irritate me, Vincent. You know, there's something called private life and you're not respecting mine." Cynthia said and glared at him.

He began to laugh again. Cynthia sighed. Why did she even bother? That creep would never understand the concept of private life. Cynthia felt sorry for his future wife.

"You sure haven't change, Cynthia Holloway." Vincent said.

She rolled her eyes and looked away from him. Why would she think going on a new journey would change anything? Here she was, in Cellidan City, with her rival who couldn't take his eyes off of her for one second.

"Oh, come on! I was just joking around. Cynthia, can't you smile for one second..?"

 _No, you piece of shit, I'm from Hazenn Town: no one smiles there,_ Cynthia thought. When would that guy learn? She wasn't different from anyone else coming from Hazenn Town: negative, brutal and impatient.

The sun was beginning to go down. Hopefully, all of her Pokémon would be fully recovered tomorrow. For now, she needed to get some sleep. Cynthia stood up and ordered a room for her to spend some nights in.

She undressed and untied her hair. She then laid down on the bed and stared at the dark room before finally falling asleep.

* * *

 _ **The Pokémon Party:**_

 _ **Cynthia Holloway, the trainer (F)**_

 _ **Leaf, the chikorita (F)**_

 _ **Spiral, the polivag (F)**_

 _ **Flare, the ponyta (M)**_


	4. Bane's trickery

**Pokémon fan-fiction – Chapter 4 "Bane's trickery"**

"I'm happy to inform you that all of your Pokémon have now fully recovered." Nurse Joy said.

"Thank you so much, I appreciate your work." Cynthia said and picked up the three Pokéballs. She put them inside of her shoulder bag and went out of the Pokémon center. She was unsure what to do next.

After a couple of days, Cynthia went to the gym to see if the gym leader had returned. He had! He was standing outside the entrance, talking to someone.

And that someone was Vincent.

Cynthia could only guess what they were talking about: Vincent was challenging him to a gym battle.

"… wonderful to have a battle with you." The gym leader said before turning his attention at Cynthia, who stupidly just stood there and stared.

Vincent turned his attention as well. His face lit up and he smirked mockingly at her.

"My dear rival!" Vincent greeted Cynthia. She avoided eye contact with him and turned her attention to the gym leader.

"So, you're back." She said. "I would like to challenge you." Cynthia said. She had finally decided to try to become a Pokémon trainer again. After all, she had registered at the Pokémon center, in order to collect badges.

"We'll do our battle tomorrow. This young man asked first, you see." He replied.

"No problem with me." Cynthia said. She attempted to turn around and walk away. After all, there was nothing more here for her before tomorrow. She should probably train the three Pokémon she had.

"Cynthia, you could watch my battle." Vincent said.

That creep. He really couldn't stay away from her for one minute.

"Why?"

"It's early morning and there ain't much to do here while waiting." Vincent said.

True, so very true. Cynthia wouldn't use the whole day to train and a gym battle with three Pokémon would eat away from time Cynthia might waste for something else. Also, if she'd stay to watch, she'd probably maybe figure out the gym leader strategy.

"Fine, if it's okay with the gym leader." Cynthia said.

He shrug and together, the three of them went inside of the gym.

* * *

"The gym rules here are simple: Three Pokémon each. The battle will end when all three, of either sides, Pokémon are unable to battle. Only the challenger are allowed to substitute his Pokémon. Now, introducing the battlers! To my right is Vincent Pacher from Littletoon Town. To my left is Bane, the gym leader of Cellidan City. Are both sides ready? … then begin!" the referee said.

Cynthia sat on a bench, watching the two of them battling. She knew Vincent had Lopunny and Hypno, but what other Pokémon did he have? She could only sit there and watch.

Bane sent out his first Pokémon.

"Go, Bellossom!" out of the Pokéball came a tiny flower Pokémon.

Vincent smirked as he sent out his Pokémon.

"Typhlosion, come out to fight!"

And out came a huge Pokémon: standing on two feet and with fire coming out of its back. Bellossom looked like very tiny compared to this beast.

The Bellossom, on the other hand, looked confident and ready to fight. This was one Pokémon you didn't want to mess with.

"You may have to first move." Bane said.

"Typhlosion, use gyro ball!" Vincent commanded his Pokémon.

Typhlosion obeyed and lunged a gyro ball at the bellossom. It grinned and dodged it. Damn, it moved fast.

Bane grinned, clearly mocking Vincent.

"So you thought it'd be that easy, eh? Bellossom, double team: surround typhlosion." Bane commanded.

The tiny grass Pokémon did as its master commanded. It made several copies of itself, surrounding typhlosion. The fire Pokémon looked very confused; unsure which one was the real bellossom.

"Follow up with sludge bomb."

One of the bellossom, behind the typhlosion, used sludge bomb. This put out the fire on his back and the Pokémon cried out in pain. It was poisoned by the sludge bomb.

"Finish it up with leaf blade." Bane commanded.

Vincent reacted quick enough to make Typhlosion return to its Pokéball. Bellossoms leaf blade hit the ground. It still kept that smirk on its face.

"I could tell you it was a good call, but that would be lying." Bane said.

Cynthia knew what he meant. Even if Typhlosion was safe inside of its Pokéball, the poison would still affect it.

Vincent was shaking out of anger. He probably now understood how serious gym battles were. He couldn't win by strength and type-advantages alone.

"Time to battle, Roserade!" Vincent sent out his second Pokémon. It was a grass/poison type. This could be both bad and good. If Cynthia recalled correct, Roserade was quite fast. Maybe that could save Vincent.

"Roserade, use poison sting!" Vincent commanded.

The bouquet Pokémon obeyed its master and used poison sting, aiming at the bellossom. It quickly jumped away, but roserade followed it, still using poison sting.

"Bellossom, leaf blade." Bane commanded.

The Bellossom turned around and used leaf blade. It hit Roserade and sent it backwards. It quickly got up. Grass attacks wouldn't work on a grass Pokémon.

"Roserade, shadow ball!" Vincent shouted.

Roserade made a huge shadow ball and tossed it. The Bellossom dodged it without problem.

"Continue to attack with shadow ball!" Vincent said. Roserade obeyed him.

Cynthia's eyes suddenly wide out as she finally understood what was Banes strategy. She would have to remember this tomorrow when she would battle Bane. If only Vincent could figure it out …

Roserades knees dropped, clearly tired after tossing shadow balls at Bellossom, who dodged them all with grace.

"Bellossom, solar beam." Bane said.

Bellossom stood still, charging up to the upcoming attack. Vincent was panicking, shouting to his tired Pokémon.

"Roserade, you gotta get up! You gotta attack now that it's vulnerable!"

Roserade didn't get up: it was still too tired. If Vincent didn't return Roserade to its Pokéball, it was done for it.

Bellossoms grin wide out as it lunged out the solar beam, hitting Roserade. All Cynthia heard was the Pokémons painful cry. The solar beams powerful light forced everyone to close their eyes. When the light disappeared, everyone stared at the fainting Roserade.

Vincent just stared at Roserade, even when two nurses picked it up and took it away. It was usually at least two nurses at a gym, ready to care for fainting Pokémon. It was really rare that a Pokémon died because of this. Before it was a common rule that every gym must have two nurses, many challengers and leaders lost their Pokémon in battle.

Cynthia knew how painful losing a friend was and she was glad she could at least depend on that someone would care for her Pokémon during a gym battle.

Vincent shook his head. Now one of his Pokémon was down, one was poisoned and one hadn't battled at all. Bane still had his first Pokémon. This was really not looking good for Vincent.

"Typhlosion, time to battle!" Vincent sent out his Typhlosion.

 _What the hell was he doing?!_ Typhlosion was poisoned, no way he would win against Bellossom by using Typhlosion. Cynthia sighed and watched the battle.

Bane raised and eyebrow and shook his head, clearly disappointed by Vincent's choice.

"Typhlosion, flame thrower, surround Bellosom with flames." Vincent commanded.

Wait … he was using Flare's battle style! When Cynthia had battled Vincent, Flare had used fire spin to surround Hypno. Maybe he could turn this around after all.

Bellossom wasn't fast enough to react before it was surrounded by tall flames. It was unable to escape and fire wouldn't hurt Typhlosion.

"Now, Typhlosion, overheat."

Unable to escape or attack, the Bellossom was forced to stand there as Typhlosion attack with overheat. Since it was the first time he used it, the attack would be incredibly powerful. The Bellossom fell down, fainting. One of the nurses came back and picked it up, carrying it of the stage.

"Smart move there, young man. Just remember, I still got two Pokémon left who hasn't battled." Bane said.

"I know, but I think you have forgotten that I too have a Pokémon who hasn't fought yet." Vincent replied.

Also, Typhlosion was poisoned, which didn't help Vincent much. On close inspection, it actually looked quite beaten. Cynthia sure hoped Vincent would switch Typhlosion out.

Bane shrugged and revealed his next Pokémon:

"Come out, Breloom!"

Oh shit, was all that could be said. Cynthia knew that Typhlosion wouldn't be able to use overheat to save him this time: not only because he was poisoned and tired, but because the overheats strength would lack the more it was used.

Vincent would be stupid enough to rely on such a move as overheat, would he? Cynthia was suddenly unsure. A lot could've changed in five years, after all.

Vincent didn't move, which made Cynthia frown. Why the hell was he sticking with Typhlosion?! Cynthia wanted to yell at Vincent, tell him to return the poisoned Typhlosion, but she knew she wasn't allowed to say anything: it was quite strict rules in gym battles. People who watched weren't allowed to cheer for either side or give advice: it would make people lose their concentration.

"Typhlosion, flame thrower." Vincent commanded.

Bane began to laugh mockingly. He was enjoying this a bit too much. Cynthia glared at him. This was what his strategy was: mocking and upset his challenger into think he or she makes the wrong mistake. That was quite an odd strategy, but Cynthia could see why he was the gym leader.

"What is so goddamn funny?!" Vincent shouted.

He was biting on it: Vincent was actually too blind to see what Bane was doing to him. Cynthia was actually glad she had agreed to watch the match: she now knew what she had to watch out for tomorrow in their battle.

While Vincent glared angry at Bane, he gave his Breloom a command:

"Dynamic punch."

While both Typhlosion and Vincent was too distracted, Breloom jumped and punched Typhlosion in the face, which made it fall on its back. It made a crying sound. _The poison,_ Cynthia thought.

"What the …?! Typhlosion, you gotta get up! I know you can do it." Vincent said.

"Typhlosion is unable to … what the?!" Cynthia guessed that no one expected Typhlosion to, actually, get up, but it did. It took some time before it was standing steady on its two feet. This made Vincent overjoyed.

"I knew it, I knew you had the power in ya!"

On close examination, Cynthia swore she saw Typhlosion smile a sad smile before falling down, now having lost every sense of battle spirit.

"Typhlosion is unable to battle." The referee said.

It took three nurses to carry Typhlosion out of the stage. Vincent was left with only one Pokémon, while Bane had two. Cynthia fared this match would end in a defeat for Vincent.

Vincent had closed his eyes, breathing calming. Cynthia felt sorry for him: just a few days ago, he had been so confident that he would beat every gym and make it to the league, but seeing how difficult battling was, probably made him unsure.

Vincent opened his brown eyes and stared at Bane.

"This ain't over yet, bastard." He said.

His words were cold and his stare hateful. Cynthia understood why: Vincent had finally figured out how Bane had tricked him.

"How do you think you can defeat me, Vincent? How, exactly? You've got only one Pokémon, while I've got two. You've got nothing." Bane said.

"No, Bane. I understand now: you took advantage over my confidence. Maybe it's time I take over yours."

With the speech over, Vincent revealed his last Pokémon, which was Hypno. Psychic was good against fighting type. Vincent was still clinging to this type advantage thingy, and taking a huge risk: he didn't know what would be Banes last Pokémon.

"Breloom, use bullet seed." Bane commanded.

"Hypno, use protect." Vincent commanded.

 _He's more careful now_ , Cynthia thought while watching the two men fight. None of them is playing around anymore, now the real fight would start.

Brelooms bullet seed didn't harm Hypno due to the safe guard. Fighting moved would have little effect on a psychic type. What would Bane do now …?

Bane grinned as he gave his Breloom a command.

"Use attract."

Cynthia believed no one in the room expected Breloom to use such an attack, but it did. Cynthia knew that it would only be affective against a Pokémon with different gender.

Hypno stood confused while heart shaped objects surrounded it. The hearts hit it and … it seem to affect it. Vincent swear quietly to himself.

"How the hell did you know which gender Hypno is?!" he shouted to Bane.

"Honestly, I didn't. It was a gamble: because that's what is a part of Pokémon battling. Isn't it, Vincent?" Bane was back to be smug and confident.

That Bane was really something: with Hypno in love with Breloom, it would be easier to deal damage now. Cynthia felt even more excited for tomorrow.

Vincent gritted his teeth. The pressure was beginning to be too much for him. Maybe what he had told Cynthia the other say was true: ten year olds didn't know what they signed themselves up for when challenging gym leaders.

"Hypno, snap out of it!" Vincent shouted.

He was falling for Banes trap again. Cynthia leaned back and waited for Bane to end this all, because she now had lost all hope for Vincent to win this fight.

She also began to doubt is she should challenge Bane as well: she knew Vincent was a good trainer, and now she was watching her rival fail. Maybe Cynthia should return home to her father and …

And _what?_ Hazenn Town was a desert: there was nothing there: not even life. Cynthia and everybody in this region knew about Hazenn Towns pride and fall. What once used to attract everybody fell down and became nothing but a ghost town: there was a reason everyone left to become a Pokémon trainer at the age of ten: so they didn't have to return to their miserable homes in a town full of nothing.

 _I won't return home: I will only make more fool of myself than I already have. I failed once, but I've learned from my mistake,_ Cynthia thought and was dragged out of her own thoughts by the sound of something falling.

It was Hypno: it'd been attacked and had fallen on the ground. Stubborn as it was, it got up and picked up its pendulum. What could one expect from a Pokémon trained by Vincent?

"Hypno, use psybeam!" Vince commanded.

It seemed that it had snapped out from Brelooms attract. Hypno lunged the psybeam attack against Breloom, who easily dodged it. It wasn't that Breloom was very fast, but it was faster and had taken less damage than Hypno had.

"Use hyper beam." Bane said to his Breloom.

Cynthia was suddenly drag back to the moment in the forest between Hazenn Town and Cellidan City. The Ursaring that had attacked her and burned her arm with hyper beam. Cynthia was still scarred after that moment, like a traumatized child.

Hypno quickly used protect. Cynthia held her breath as she watched the two of them fight. Vincent with Hypno and Bane with Breloom. This was beginning to become even more intense now.

"Hypno, use psychic on Breloom, keep it where it is standing!" Vince commanded.

Hypno obeyed its master and used psychic on Breloom, forcing it to stand completely still.

"Now, jump!"

Hypno jumped high up from the ground. Cynthia wasn't quite sure what Vince was planning, but he was up to something big.

"Use thunder punch against the ground. Use both of your hands!" Vincent said.

Hypno came down against the stage with thunder punch, the stage cracked up, and huge stones flew off everywhere.

"Hypno, use psychic on the rocks, throw them at Breloom." Vincent commanded.

Unable to escape the attack, Breloom watched as huge rocks were about to hit it. The next moment, Breloom was buried under a ton amount of rocks.

Cynthia looked at Hypno. It had fallen down on its knees and was breathing heavily. Vincent ran to it and kneeled in front of it.

"Are you okay?"

Hypno opened its eyes and looked at its master.

"You're doing a wonderful job, just one more challenge." Vincent said and helped his Pokémon back up to its feet.

"Now, use psychic to remove the rocks." Vincent commanded.

While Hypno removed the rocks to reveal that Breloom was indeed unable to battle, Cynthia looked at her rival and his Pokémon. She didn't want to admit it out loud, but she was growing very jealous at Vincent. He had such a good relationship with his Pokémon. They were all so strong and respected Vincent. Cynthia sighed. Maybe she would be like that one day.

A nurse came and picked up Breloom. Bane looked at Vincent and Hypno. He looked impressed.

"It is interesting to watch you battle with your Hypno: you two are indeed in sync with each other. Vincent, I'll admit that I am not certain who will win, but I sure hope you put up a fight just as good as this one." Bane said while sending out his third and final Pokémon.

"Exeggutor, come out to fight!"

 _What in the world,_ Cynthia stared confused at Bane. Why would he send out a grass/psychic against a pure psychic?

"Interesting choice, Bane." Vincent said and grinned.

"I thought you'd like this kind of battle." Bane said.

To this, Cynthia rolled her eyes. Men and their determent feeling to show off their strength. This was just beginning to get silly.

"Exeggutor, jump on top of Hypno!" Bane commanded.

Before either Hypno or Vincent could react, Exeggutor was on top of Hypno. Cynthia knew that Exeggutor was heavier than Hypno, so this could mean trouble.

"Use toxic." Bane commanded.

Hypno cried out in pain as poison poured on it. Vincent had to be quick before the poison would be too much for Hypno.

* * *

 _ **The Pokémon party:**_

 _ **Cynthia Holloway, the trainer (F)**_

 _ **Leaf, the chikorita (F)**_

 _ **Spiral, the poliwag (F)**_

 _ **Flare, the ponyta (M)**_


	5. An irresponsible child

**Pokèmon fan-fiction – Chapter 5 "An irresponsible child"**

"Hypno, use shadow ball: toss it upwards!" Vincent commanded.

It had closed its eyes now to avoid toxic. If it were to create a shadow ball, it would need both of its arms. Cynthia noticed how it struggled to move them.

"Exeggutor, make sure its arms don't come together." Bane said.

Exeggutor stomped on both of Hypno's arms. It let out a loud cry. Cynthia could hear the fainting sound of bones cracking. God, this was brutal.

Vincent seemed to have frozen in terror: he just stood there and watched as his Pokémon cried out in pain. Cynthia couldn't handle it anymore: she quickly got up from the bench, which made the referee frown.

"Vincent, listen! Snap out of it, it is one of Bane's tricks: you gotta give Hypno a command: _it needs you!_ " Cynthia shouted.

"Sit down this instant, young lady!" the referee shouted to her. She sat down and remained quiet. The thoughts and feelings inside of her were messier than before: Cynthia had just broken one of the most important gym rules. This was something new to her: Cynthia had never been a fan of rules, but she followed them because they were made for that very reason. She felt somewhat better after shouting to Vincent, even though it was against the rules.

Vincent seemed to have snapped, as he quickly commanded Hypno to use hypnosis on Exeggutor. It worked and it fell asleep. Hypno was finally free!

However, as Cynthia feared, it had broken its left arm, the one that held the pendulum device. Vincent sighed, obviously about to forfeit when something caught his attention.

Bane raised an eyebrow. Cynthia was also wondering what was going on. He looked like he was listening to something, but there wasn't a single sound in the room.

"Fine then." Vincent said. He walked up to Hypno. The Pokémon gave him something and Cynthia could faintly hear Vincent mumbling something. He then left the stage.

"We'll continue." Vincent said.

"With only one working arm?" Bane asked.

"Exeggutor has no arms, so I don't see any difference."

Cynthia began to laugh. Bane smiled and let out a chuckle.

"Then we shall continue."

Cynthia quickly stopped laughing and watched as the battle continued. It didn't take long to notice Hypno was missing its pendulum. That's what it had given Vincent.

The two Pokémon lunged one attack after another. Cynthia was finally gaining some respect for Vincent: He was a jerk to humans, but he loved all of his Pokémon.

The battle went on, until the two Pokémon stood still while breathing heavily. Only one could win this fight and both of them looked ready to collapse any moment.

Hypno fell down on the ground. Vincent cried out its name, but to no use.

"Hypno is unable to battle, Exeggutor …" a sound cut the referee off. He turned his head to see Exeggutor lying on the ground, having passed out. A bit shocked, he said:

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle, which means this battle is a draw. Following the rules, the gym leader can decide whenever to give the challenger a badge or not."

Vincent ran to his Hypno and helped it up. He said something to it, but Cynthia didn't listen. It had been such an intense battle that had ended in a draw. Cynthia was up next tomorrow: but she was nervous now: the strongest Pokémon she had was Leaf, while the only strong Pokémon against grass types were Flare.

Cynthia got up from the bench and were about to leave the gym when a hand grabbed her shoulder. She turned around.

"What is it that you want, Bane?" she asked.

"You broke one of the gym rules: I hope you understand that it wasn't fair to snap Vincent out of his trance." Bane said.

"I understand and it won't happen again."

"I normally would've punished you for breaking the rules, but I'll let it go for this time, since you're a challenger." Bane said before leaving her.

* * *

"Okay, everyone, come out!"

Cynthia was sitting on the ground and watched as her three Pokémon, Leaf, Spiral and Flare, came out of their Pokéballs. She was sitting to be at the same height as her three Pokémon.

"Tomorrow is a big day for all of us: we're going to battle the gym leader. I've watched how he battles and I know for a fact that type advantages is not going to help us. We need to find different strategy for each Pokémon he uses. His Bellossom is quite fast and knows sludge bomb. His Breloom knows attract, which could cause trouble. His Exeggutor is heavy." Cynthia said.

She then began to tell them her plan and tell them which Pokémon they would have to face. After that, the hard training begun.

Spiral would battle Flare. Cynthia sat down in front of Leaf. She needed to talk to her for real. Tomorrow was her Pokémons time to shine, and she didn't want to leave Bane with the impression that one of her Pokémon didn't listen to her.

"Hey, Leaf?"

"Chika?" She looked up at her master with those red eyes of hers.

"I am aware of your feelings towards me, but tomorrow is important: I have only you three to use in the battle and I don't want to embarrass either you or the others. Could you just please not act goofy? If Bane realize you don't listen to me, he'll make a joke out of it. I'm not only saying this because of myself, but I know how much you hate being mocked."

Chikorita stared at Cynthia, her master. She remembered the first day she saw those night sky eyes: the very first time she met what used to be a friendly face.

"Chika." She answered.

"I know for a fact that all of you are strong: but we all need to gain some more strength. Vincent's Pokémon were all fully evolved and powerful, and the match ended in a draw." Cynthia said.

"Are you talking about me, Cynthia?"

She froze and slowly turned around. Chikorita looked at him briefly, but shrugged him off, as Vincent wasn't interesting enough for her.

"You were talking about my battle with Bane. Yeah, it looked scary for a moment." Vincent said.

"Are your Pokémon all right?" Cynthia then noticed that Vincent was wearing Hypno's pendulum device around his neck.

"Well, my Hypno's arm are broken, so I might just give him a break until it recovers." Vincent said.

Cynthia nodded and looked at Spiral and Flare fighting each other, helping them to get stronger. After watching Vincent's battle, she'd grown concerned for her Pokémons: none of them had evolved yet. Maybe … just maybe …

"You know, I could help you." Vincent said.

"No." Cynthia said.

"Come on, I know the battle ended in a draw, but I took down all of his Pokémon, despite how strong they were!" Vincent said.

"No, I'm going to train my Pokémon on my own and I don't need help from anyone, and especially not _you_." Cynthia said. She looked down at Leaf.

"Come, Leaf, let's get you started on your training." She said. She was about to leave when a hand grabbed her. Fucking hell, didn't he take any hints?!

"Give me the real reason why you won't let me help you." Vincent said.

Cynthia turned around to face him. If it the truth was he wanted, then she would give him the truth.

She pointed a finger at him and locked eyes with him: those mocking brown eyes.

"You want to know why I don't want your help or why I don't like you, Vincent: Because you're immature and stupid. I only watched your battle to see what strategy Bane was using. You act as if I'm a helpless kid who doesn't know anything and you know what? I'm fifteen years old: walking, talking and travelling on my own without anyone's help. So, if you could please leave me alone, that would be great: you're wasting my time." With that, she shook off his hand and went to her two other Pokémons together with Leaf.

* * *

"Hello?" Cynthia said. The screen flickered a bit before she saw her father on the screen.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Cynthia: I didn't expect you to call me as soon as now. Where are you?"

"I'm at Cellidan City." Cynthia replied.

"Oh, so what have you been up to?" he asked.

"I'm going to battle the gym leader tomorrow."

"So you earned Leaf's respect?"

"Nope, but I am working on it."

He paused and looked at his daughter worried. He had already seen the bandages around her arm and the patch on her cheek. It was obvious that he suspected that Leaf was responsible.

"I don't think travelling with Leaf is such a good idea, Cynthia." He said.

Her eyes went wide. Did he really accuse Leaf for abusing her? Yeah, she had used razor leaf on her a couple of times, but one could only expect that due to how their situation was. And her arm wasn't even Leaf's fault, it was that damn ursaring, who Leaf saved her from.

"Don't you say that!" she shouted at the screen. It made her father jump.

"Don't you think I know what happened between you two? You betrayed her by letting your guard down by pushing her towards the edge!" he said.

Tears began to gather in her eyes, but she refused to let them stream. That would be a sign that he had won the argument and there was no way she would send Leaf away, not to Hazenn Town.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" she screamed at the screen, which made people turn and look at her. She didn't care. He had to understand how important Leaf was for her, even if she did hate her.

"Leaf was my very first Pokémon, dad. I picked her because I saw potential in her: because I saw a friend and a partner that would last. Maybe I pushed her way too hard, but I was ten back then. I didn't know how to raise a Pokémon! It's my fault she hates me, but I know that I can change that." Cynthia said.

A moment of silence. Her father was sighing. They had never talked about what had happened back on her first journey, mainly because Cynthia didn't want to.

Vincent had told her that ten year olds didn't know anything when they left on a journey. She had never really thought about how right he was: giving a Pokémon to a ten year old that is supposed to raise it on its own was actually quite risky. People viewed Pokémon differently: some as friends, other as tools.

With a sigh, Cynthia looked at the screen. Her father was still there, looking at her with a worried expression.

"I won't leave Leaf to rot in Hazenn Town: that's what she deserves least."

"Fine, I'm just warning you: she might have changed."

"I know." And with that, the conversation ended.

* * *

 _Kekehehehehe …_

That laughter, who did it belong to? Cynthia looked around herself, but there was nothing to spot in this blasted darkness. Where the hell was she even?

 _You worthless little bug._

"Worthless little bug?! Comes from the coward hiding in the shadows." Cynthia responded.

 _Hiding? I'm a part of the darkness._

"Yeah, yeah: I'm a part of something huge beyond your imagination, blah, blah, blah." Cynthia rolled her eyes.

"Who are you, anyway? And why the hell are you bothering me?" she added.

 _I've been waiting for so long …_

"That's not an answer to either of my questions." Cynthia said irritated.

 _You think it is funny, don't you?_

"What's funny?"

 _This._

She didn't reply to that. Whatever this was, it was fucked up and she had no interest in listening to it. Cynthia began to run away, but, of course, there was nowhere to run: this place was an everlasting dark abyss.

 _You can't run from what you can't see._

She ran faster. Every now and then, she spotted something at the end of her eye, but she didn't turn to see what it was.

 _Kekehehehehe …_

* * *

Cynthia woke up and looked around herself. The room was dark. She was still at the Pokémon center. It had been a dream. She was grateful that it was just a simple dream, because whatever fucked up creature had been in there was just weird.

She then noticed that Leaf was awake. She was out of her Pokéball and sitting by the window, watching the night sky. How the hell did she get out of her Pokéball by herself? No matter how, Cynthia placed a hand gently on her Pokémon. The tiny, green body froze underneath her palm.

"It's okay, I won't ever hurt you … Leaf, I love you so much: I regret every horrible act I did to you." She whispered.

She didn't respond, not even in her own language. She kept staring out the window, though Cynthia did notice that after a while, Leaf's body was more relaxed.

Cynthia said no more: it would only ruin the moment. This was the first time since Cynthia had left Hazenn Town that Leaf had been relaxed and calm around her. She knew she shouldn't get her hopes too much up. The friendship they shared once would not come immediately.

None of them moved or spoke. Their silent moment lasted for some time before Cynthia noticed that Leaf had fallen asleep under her palm. Poor thing, she also might have been kept awake by stupid "nightmares", that weren't even scary.

Gently, Cynthia placed Leaf on the other bed in the room. She then went to her own bed and lie-down. Even if no words had been exchange between her and Leaf, it still had been a nice moment.

* * *

The referee said the same thing as yesterday. Cynthia was standing in the same box as Vincent. Bane was on the other side. He didn't smile, actually, his face showed no expression at all. What had happened to the mocking gym leader?

"Are both sides ready?" the referee asked.

Bane simply nodded, he didn't even say anything. Cynthia frowned and did the same.

"Then begin."

"Go, Leaf!" she sent out her chikorita. She was ready to take down whatever might be coming at her. Cynthia at least hoped she could out speed his Bellossom.

"Cacturne, it's time to fight." He sent out his Pokémon, a cactus looking Pokémon.

 _What …?_ Cynthia suddenly realized what huge mistake she had done. She had trained her Pokémon based on what strategies Bane had used for Bellossom, Breloom and Exeggutor. She hadn't thought twice that Bane had other Pokémons.

"Shit." She mumbled. This was really not according to plan. Bane had caught them off guard by using a Pokémon without them knowing what strategy he would use.

"Is there something wrong, challenger?" Bane asked. He didn't sound mocking, but she had a feeling that this was funny to him.

"N-No! Not at all. Leaf, use vine whip!" she commanded.

Leaf hesitated before using vine whip to bind the Cacturnes arms. Bane's face was blank while he gave his Pokémon a command.

"Pull."

The Cacturne started to pull Leaf towards it. She began to panic and try to let go of the Cacturne, which made it easier for it to drag her closer and closer. What was Bane planning?

When Leaf was close enough, Cacturne lifted her up. It stared at her intensely at her. She froze, feeling like a tiny bug, about to get squashed by a giant human foot.

"Use dark pulse."

" _Shit!_ " Cynthia shouted.

At this range, Leaf was bound to lose a lot of health from that dark pulse. Cacturne lunged one directly at her face. It then let go of her.

"Leaf, return." Cynthia quickly called back her Pokèmon.

Damn, this was not working well. Another trick from Bane's side. He had let her watch Vincent battle only to confuse her. Now, Cynthia was standing against a huge, ugly shadow.

This was trouble: she couldn't use Spiral, but her plan was to spare Flare as a secret weapon. Cynthia took a deep breath before sending out her next Pokémon.

"Go, Spiral." She sent out her water type Pokémon.

Bane lifted an eyebrow at this, probably wondering why Cynthia had sent out a Pokémon with a huge disadvantage against grass types.

"Spiral, use hypnosis!" she commanded.

She obeyed her and used hypnosis. Cacturne fell asleep. Cynthia sure hoped it didn't know sleep talk.

"Return." She said and made Spiral return to her Pokéball.

"Go, Flare!" she sent out her Ponyta.

"A Ponyta? Those a quite rare around Cellidan, where did you get it?" Bane said.

"Does it matter? He's here, he's mine and we're ready to battle." Cynthia said before giving him a command.

"Fire spin!"

Flare obeyed and burned the Cacturne. When the fire died out, it was clear that Cacturne was unable to battle. Two nurses picked it up and took it away.

Cynthia had a bad feeling about this. Bane had something up in his sleeves. This battle was way too easy: He was planning something to throw her off, she just knew it.

To be safe, Cynthia stuck with Flare. Spiral wouldn't be able to take down any grass type and Leaf was still beaten after the short fight with Cacturne.

"Go, Carnivine!"

Another Pokémon he hadn't used when he had battled Vincent. So, his plan was to confuse her by using Pokémon she didn't knew the strategy off.

Carnivine was pure grass type. A fire spin or flame wheel could easily take it out. Bane must have some kind of strategy for this one.

"Flare, use flame wheel!" Cynthia commanded.

Ponytas body turned into a huge flame in the form of a wheel. It charged at the Carnivine. Hopfully, it would hit.

"Dodge it." Bane commanded. He sounded like he was bored.

Carnivine dodged the burning wheel. Flare hit the wall instead. The flame died out and Cynthia saw that Flare was shaking his head.

"Use mud-slap, Carnivine." Bane commanded.

"Fucking … Flare, dodge!" Cynthia shouted.

He quickly jumped to dodge the mud-slaps. So this Carnevine knew mud-slap. Ground moves were good against fire types. Not only fast, but with a move against fire Pokémon.

"Flare, return."

"Go, Spiral."

She sent out Poliwag. At least wouldn't mud-slap bother her. If she could just tire Carnevine out and then switch to Flare again, Bane would have two Pokémon down and Cynthia none.

"You know, you're quite stupid." Bane said.

"What did you say!?" she shouted.

"I thought you were smarter than that blue haired friend of yours. You figured out the tricks I used on him, but not the one I used on you. I purposely let you watch the battle to see how you would prepare yourself. You trained your Pokémons based of what strategies I used on my Bellossom, Breloom and Exeggutor. That just shows how stupid and horrible trainer you are." Bane said.

"You know nothing, Bane. Just because I made a mistake doesn't mean I can't win."

"I never said that, I just want you to know how pathetic you are."

Cynthia grew angry. The anger inside of her made her more determined to win this battle. She wanted to beat him so bad that he would regret every single thing he had said to her.

"Spiral, use surf."

She obeyed. This wouldn't do much damage, but that mud-slap was threatening against Flare and it was way too early to send out Leaf.

"Use hypnosis!"

Just like with Cacturne, Carnevine also fell asleep. Cynthia switched out Spiral with Flare. One fire spin or two would probably end this.

"Use sleep talk,"

No fucking way! How more unlucky could she get?! Carnevine got up, still with its eyes shut and used leaf tornado. It hit its intended target. It was super effective, but it left Flare with several cuts.

"Use fire spin!"

"Use sleep talk!" Bane quickly commanded.

While Flare attacked with a powerful fire spin, Carnevine attacked with mud-slap. It hit both the fire spin and Flare. After that attack, he fell down.

"Ponyta is unable to battle." The referee said.

 _Shit, shit, shit!_ Cynthia watched as two nurses took Flare off the stage. How was she supposed to turn this around? The only Pokémon without a disadvantage against grass Pokémon was now unable to battle.

Fine, then it's time for a new strategy to win against this bastard, Cynthia thought and sent out her Poliwag.


	6. Changing in plans

**Pokémon fan-fiction – Chapter 6 "Changing in plans"**

"Use double slap!" Cynthia commanded. She had to beat up that Carnevine before it woke up. If she could do that, maybe they had a chance to win.

Spiral slapped the sleeping Carnevine with her tail. This caused it to wake up. It quickly used vine whip to counter the slaps.

"Thank you for waking Carnevine for me. Time to give you a lesson about battling." Bane said.

"Use vine whip and toss Poliwag in the air. Then use bullet seed."

Cynthia wasn't even able to blink before Spiral was lying on the ground, unconscious. She was now at huge disadvantage against Bane. She only had Leaf, while he still had his Carnevine and another Pokémon.

When the nurse was gone with Spiral, Cynthia sent out her Chikorita.

 _If we could just quickly get rid of Carnevine, then maybe we stand a chance,_ she thought while looking at Bane. He was still emotionless. His plan on testing Cynthia as a trainer was far from over and she feared he had still some trick in his sleeve.

"Use razor leaf!" she commanded.

Leaf, still feeling the damage from the last battle, used razor leaf on Carnvine. It wouldn't do much damage, but Cynthia had no idea how to knock it out.

"Foolish." Bane said.

"Use vine whip." He commanded.

Carnevine obeyed. Leaf managed to dodge most of its vine whip attack, but Cynthia noticed that she was much slower than usual. Probably due to her battle with Cacturne.

One whip hit her, though. It sent her flying against a wall. She laid still, not moving at all.

"Chikorita is unable to …" the referee stopped in the middle of the sentence as Leaf was starting to move again. She quivery stood up. Her tiny, green body shaking out of exhaustion. Her red eyes was barely open. Even if she had taken major damage, she still wanted to continue.

"I guess her fighting spirit is quite strong. Shall we continue?" Bane asked.

"No." Cynthia said. She looked at Leaf, who frowned.

"I forfeit the match, Bane. There's no reason to continue." Cynthia said.

"The challenger has forfeit the match, which means Bane is the winner!" the referee said.

Cynthia slowly walked to the confused Chikorita. She stared at her master with a mix between both confusion and anger. She then used vine whip to slap Cynthia when she was close enough.

"Will you stop it already?! Havn't you made it clear enough?!" Cynthia shouted.

"Chikorita, chika!" she shouted angry. Tears was falling down. She was angry because Cynthia had forfeit the match.

"I did it because I didn't want you to get hurt again!" Cynthia shouted.

"Let me try to calm her down." Bane said calmly.

"No, she's angry: there's no way of telling what she'll do."

"I'm a grass Pokémon gym leader. I know how to handle them." He said and kneeled in front of Leaf.

"Hey there, little one." He said with a calm voice.

She slapped him with vine whip as a respond.

He began to laugh, not that mocking laugh, but a laugh as if someone had just told him a joke. This made Cynthia frown. She hadn't seen this side of Bane. It looked to strange and out of place.

"No need for violence … Leaf. That's your name, isn't it? I understand you enjoy battling, but you must understand that there's a limit. A limit you cannot cross. Your body won't be able to keep up with that battle spirit of yours if you push yourself too hard." Bane said.

"Chika.." Leaf mumbled and looked away.

"Now, would you be so kind and rest your body? I will look after your trainer. We need to talk." He said.

"Wait, what?" Cynthia looked at Bane. Talk with her, about what? Maybe he had noticed something about her and was going to mock her for. Cynthia looked away from both him and Leaf as a nurse picked up her Chikorita and took her away.

"Please come with me." Bane said and went out of the gym building. Cynthia followed him.

* * *

They went out of the city and into the very same forest where she had caught Flare. The forest was quite for a long time, but as soon as they reached an open area in the middle of the forest, sounds of Pokémon and nature itself could be heard.

"I often come here and spend time with these wild forest Pokémon." Bane said and sat down on a huge rock, standing in front of a huge lake and a waterfall.

"You've got quite the sensitive side." Cynthia said.

A Leafeon came out of a bush. It went to Bane. He gently stroke it.

"I believe Pokémon are more than battlers. I only became a gym leader because I want to teach people what Pokémon really are." He said.

"And that is …?"

"Pokémon and humans are alike: we breathe, eat, sleep and at one point will face death. Too many people view Pokémon as tools and shields. They're not weapons. They are our friends and partners." Bane said and smiled down at the Leafeon.

"Some Pokémon actually don't like battling. Some of them just have a more relaxed and calm nature. The Leafeon spices is a good example of that. Very few of them battle." Bane added.

Cynthia looked down at the Leafeon. It looked so happy: its brown eyes shining bright. Cynthia gently kneeled. The Leafeon, curious, walked up to her and looked at the girl.

"Leaf…leafeon.." it said

It was so strange how Cynthia both agreed to what Bane said, but it somewhat felt odd too. She had no doubt about Pokémon who didn't like to battle, but this was a new path Cynthia had never thought about. Some Pokémon, like this Leafeon, didn't like to battle. They didn't enjoy harming other living spices.

"I want to ask a favor of you, Cynthia." Bane said.

"What favor?" she asked.

"Stop battling."

Her blood froze completely. Her eyes went wide and she stared at Bane with shocked blue eyes.

The words went through her head over and over like a broken record. _I want to ask you a favor … stop battling … I want to ask you a favor … stop battling … I want to ask you a favor … stop battling … stop battling … stop battling …_

Her mouth went dry. The Leafeon gave her a worried expression. Bane's face was expressionless. There was no way to tell what he was thinking at that moment.

 _Stop battling …_ is what he asked of her. He only wanted her to do one thing for him, and it was to stop battle. Stop being a Pokémon trainer. Stop collecting badges and not take a part of the league.

Cynthia stood up and locked eye with Bane as she asked him the simplest question:

"Why?"

A simple question, but a difficult answer. Her heart was pumping faster. Cynthia was afraid it would explode if he didn't answer her soon.

"May I ask you a question before I answer that question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why are you here?"

"I.."

Cynthia was lost in words. What _was_ she doing there? Why was she in Cellidan? Should she tell him the truth, even if it would sound disgusting in his ears?

"I try to redeem myself."

Bane said nothing.

"About Leaf … I did something horrible to her. I don't think she'll ever forgive me. To be fair, I'm fucking sick and tired of Hazenn Town. I left it as a kid because I hated my own hometown. Anyone would do anything to leave Hazenn … that's the only reason the professor lives there: to send people away from that God forsaken town!" the last sentence she shouted. Leafeon stepped away, its ears peeking downwards in fear.

"You're angry with yourself."

Cynthia looked away. Tears were streaming down her face. Bane placed his two hands on her shoulders.

"Cynthia … stop blaming Hazenn Town for your misery. It's not that towns fault: it's yours. It reflects in how you battle."

Cynthia looked up, at his face. His grey eyes staring into her blues. What the hell was he talking about?!

"If you don't want me to battle, then what should I do?!" she shouted.

He shrugged and sighed.

"I don't know, but battling isn't your destiny." He said.

Cynthia looked down at the Leafeon. It appeared to be less afraid now. It may have sensed how she had calmed down now.

"I guess you're right. I just thought … I don't know." Cynthia mumbled.

None of them said anything. She knew he was right, that he was telling the truth. Battling wasn't what she should gamble on.

With a sigh, she stepped away from Bane.

"I won't battle, Bane. I'll stop. I'll find something else to do." Cynthia said.

"May I recommend something?"

Cynthia raised an eyebrow.

"Travel with someone else. It may help you to find your destiny." Bane said.

Cynthia had never travelled with anyone else. Back when she was ten, it had been her, Leaf and her other Pokémon trying to beat Vincent.

Maybe travelling with someone else wasn't such a bad idea. It could get lonesome at times being all by yourself.

"Thank you, Bane." She said. "I'll pick up my Pokémon and leave." She added before leaving him and the Leafeon.

* * *

"They are all healed up, so you make take them." Said the nurse who had been treating Cynthia's Pokémons.

"Thank you and goodbye." Cynthia said and made all of her Pokémons return to their Pokéballs.

She went out of Bane's gym and sighed. Cellidan had nothing more to offer her. She would leave it behind, having served no purpose or helped her find out what to do with her life.

She went into the forest, pounding on what Bane had told her. He had told her to find a different destiny, and to find someone to travel with.

Vincent wouldn't be her rival anymore, since she wouldn't take the league. What would he think about her decisions?

 _Does it matter what he fucking thinks?! That jerk would probably not even care,_ Cynthia thought while still walking. Vincent could go to hell.

"Uhm … excuse me?" said a voice behind her. She quickly turned around.

There stood a young girl with long, dark red hair and intense blue eyes. She was very pale and looked frightened.

"I … I think I'm lost ..." she said.

"How can you be lost? There's a path here, ain't it?"

"No?"

Cynthia frowned and looked around herself. Sure enough, the path had disappeared. Frightened and confused, she looked around herself.

"Wha..? But I was standing in a path just a minute ago!" she shouted.

"I'm scared." The girl grabbed hold on Cynthia's left arm, clinging close to the teenager.

"Don't worry, I'll find a way out of here." Cynthia assured the young girl before starting to walk around.

That was strange: just a minute ago, Cynthia _was_ standing on a path. Maybe she had hallucinated or something. Whatever it was, the one important thing was to make sure this girl was safe.

Cynthia looked down at the girl. She must have been at least ten. Which district did she came from? Was she a beginner trainer? Most likely, since she had a backpack.

"Uhm … I didn't get your name …" Cynthia said and blushed.

"I'm so sorry. My name is Zoe." The girl replied.

"What a pretty name. My name is Cynthia Holloway."

"I …" Zoe shook her head. "Nothing." She quickly added and looked down.

The two girls continued to look for a way out of the forest, but it appeared that they were lost. The forest was foggy too. In addition, everything was quiet: no Pokémon made a sound. In fact, the only sound was the two girls walking. The atmosphere felt unsettling and odd.

"I don't like this, Cynthia." Zoe said.

"Neither do I." she mumbled and looked around herself.

Nothing but tall trees, fog and cold breeze. This was all so strange. Up until a minute ago, everything was normal. Was this a trick or something?

" _Hehehehehe …_ "

"Cynthia, there's something there!" Zoe shrieked while pointing at something in the fog. Cynthia had to squint in order to get a glimpse of what the young girl was pointing at.

There, somewhere in the thick fog, Cynthia spotted two, glowing red eyes. They appeared to stare directly at the two young girls. Cynthia quickly forced Zoe behind her, in order to protect her for whatever was out there.

Nothing happened for a long time. Zoe kept on whispering her name. Cynthia didn't dare to move. Should she send out one of her Pokémon to make sure that the person or Pokémon knew that they could defend themselves? Without second thoughts, she quickly sent out Flare.

"I don't care who or what you are, as you can see, we're not helpless!" she shouted at the glowing red eyes.

Flare neighed to make it clear he wasn't afraid either. The sound echoed throughout the forest. Zoe still clang to Cynthia. Poor thing was terrified.

" _Ha...ha…ha…_ " the voice mockingly laughed, but slowly disappeared together with the fog and creepy atmosphere.

The two girls suddenly stood in the middle of the forest, just like before. They stood on the path leading them away from Cellidan City to Grandall Town.

"What just happened?" she mumbled confused.

This was indeed strange. Even Zoe and Flare looked unsure. For one moment, it seemed like they were the only living beings in the forest, and now several Pokémons, who acted as if nothing had happened, surrounded them. What was all that fog business from before?

And who did those glowing eyes belong to?

"Flare, return." Cynthia made him return to his Pokémon and looked down at the frightened girl.

"I think we should continue: whatever happened just now was probably nothing." She assured her before they began walking again.

* * *

Though it was all over and they continued without any other thing happening to them, Cynthia was still skeptical about the creature from earlier. Whatever it was, it didn't want a battle, since it backed away soon as Cynthia had brought out Flare.

 _Stop it, whatever it was, it's gone. Focus on looking after Zoe,_ Cynthia told herself and smiled down at the girl. Zoe looked straight ahead with an emotionless expression. Poor thing was probably still in shock after what had just happened.

"Are you all right, Zoe?"

The girl jumped a bit and then looked at me. She quickly nodded.

"I'm fine."

The sun had just went down when Cynthia and Zoe stopped walking. They were still in the forest. Damn, these forests were big. It would have been easier with a bicycle, but those were expensive. Cynthia would rather spare the money she had to buy food and needed items for her and her Pokémon.

"We should camp out here." Cynthia said. Zoe nooded.

"I'll get some fire wood. Don't go off to far." Cynthia quickly let out Flare and Spiral.

"You two look after her while I'm go." She said.

"Poli!" Spiral shouted.

Flare looked at Zoe and said nothing.

"Good." Cynthia then went off together with Leaf's Pokéball. She would need her razor leaf. If she could only find a small tree and if only Leaf would listen.

It didn't take long for her to find a small tree. She let out Leaf.

"Leaf, could you please cut down that tiny tree for me?" Cynthia asked politely.

After making a sound, which sounded like a sigh, she used her razor leaf to cut the tree. When it was about to fall, she quickly grabbed hold on it with her vine whip.

"Thank you so much. I'll take care of the rest from now on, okay?" Cynthia sat down on her knees and pulled out a small pocketknife she'd bought in Cellidan City. She gently began cutting off the small branches on the tree. Leaf sat a few feet away, watching in silent.

When she was done, Leaf cut the tree into several firewood. Heading back to Zoe and the other Pokémon, Cynthia carried most of the wood. Leaf carried two using vine whip.

With some help from Flare's fire, they lit up the wood. Sitting around it, Cynthia stared into the flames, slowly turning the wood into ashes. Banes words still stuck with her. Would travelling with someone else help her finding her true destiny?


End file.
